Humble roots
Worm poop in a used soda bottle
In an economics class at Princeton University, Tom Szaky was taught that the purpose of business is to maximize profit for shareholders. This narrow point of view seemed to ignore the effects of business on all non-shareholder stakeholders, from communities of people to our planet and more.
Tom’s view was that while profit is critical to business, it’s more an indicator of health than the reason for being. He believed the purpose of business was to make society and the planet better while being healthy (profitable).
TerraCycle was founded a year later as a plant food company taking organic waste from Princeton’s cafeterias, feeding it to worms, then packaging the resulting worm poop in used soda bottles to be sold in lawn and garden centers. In fact, Tom drew the TerraCycle logo, originally symbolizing an earthworm.
TerraCycle Worm Poop Plant Food was the world’s first product created from waste—and packaged entirely in waste (used soda bottles). It didn’t take long for TerraCycle plant food to hit the shelves at major retailers in North America like The Home Depot, Target, and Walmart.
Learn about TerraCycle’s early days by reading Tom’s first book: Revolution in a Bottle. Shop now
Creating products from waste becomes Eliminating the Idea of Waste®
As a consumer product company, TerraCycle was focused on making the very best products. This meant that even if the product was made from and packaged in waste, only the very best quality of waste would be used.
Tom felt that TerraCycle could make an even bigger impact by making garbage the focus of the business, reinventing the organization to what it is today. TerraCycle used the learnings from collecting empty soda bottles to package liquid worm poop and launched national take-back programs for all sorts of waste—from juice pouches to energy bar wrappers— and turned those into upcycled products.
Twenty years later, TerraCycle is Eliminating the Idea of Waste® in many ways. From collecting and recycling hundreds of waste streams nationally in 20 countries, helping companies make their products from waste, building a global reuse platform, and even delivering health insights from poopy diapers, TerraCycle will continue to be at the forefront of innovative solutions to eliminate waste.
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